Tag: Grace

Still Stuck on Grace

Here it is Sunday morning and I’m still thinking about last Sunday where we talked about grace. I’m still thinking it all through. Something that has really lasted this week was what we began the sermon with last week – a quote from Mrs. O’Brien in Terrence Malick’s new film “Tree of Life”. She says this:

“There are two ways through life, the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one to follow. Grace doesn’t try to please itself. It accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries. Nature only wants to please itself, and get others to please it too. It likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy, when all the world is shining around it, when love is smiling through all things. They taught us that no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end. I will be true to you, whatever comes.”

The more I reflect on this quote the more I think it’s a challenge of the Kingdom. In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus clearly shows that he runs his Kingdom on Grace. The challenge is that he is clear that if we don’t live by grace, we may find ourselves at odds with his Kingdom. As Malick says, making an illusion to Jesus, there are two ways through life, grace and nature and we must choose our path.

I believe that is the question for you and for me that I am still reflecting and grappling with. That, if the Kingdom truly runs by grace, if its rule is grace, its way of life is grace, then the implicit challenge is: are we living by grace?

Would your friends and neighbors say you give grace? Would your family characterize your life as a life of grace? What about the people who meet on the road driving to work? What about the cashier?

There are only two ways through life, one of grace and one of nature. And Malick is right, “No one who loves the way of grace has ever come to a bad end”. Because Grace is the way the Kingdom runs…

by Andrew Mills

There are Two Ways Through Life – the Way of Grace and of Nature

On Sunday we talked about a parable of Jesus found in Matthew 20 – “The parable of the vineyard workers”. You can download the sermon here. In this sermon we also saw and talked about  a clip from the movie the Tree of Life, discussed the danger of earning rewards from relationships, and talked a lot about grace.

Yet after the sermon there were two thoughts that really lingered for me. We discussed how you can actually “use” relationships and people. That if you love what you get from someone – you don’t love them, instead you love what you get. So if you love how God gives you eternal life – you love eternal life, not God. The point was that there is a danger in letting the rewards or results of a relationship becoming the reason for a realtionship.

So as I was driving home on Sunday I asked myself: Is there any part of my relationship with God – where the focus has shifted from loving God to loving what he does for me? Have I at all gotten caught up with the benefits of my relationship with God without appreciating being in a relationship with God?

That was the first thought that I found challenging, and worth reflecting on. The second was how we ended on Sunday, focusing on the fact that there are two ways through life – the way of grace or the way of nature. While there are two ways through life, there is only one way into the Kingdom and that’s through grace. So the question then is am I living in the way of grace or nature?

Neither of these questions are easy: are we using relationships or appreciating them? Are we living according to what is fair, or by grace? Are we giving or focusing on what we get?

Sometimes though the most difficult questions are the most worthwhile…

Discussion Questions:

  • Adult Questions:
  • What excites you about God’s grace?
  • Who in your life needs to be given God’s grace – without expectations – as an example of the Kingdom? How can you give them grace?
  • How can you make “giving grace” a regular part of your life?
  • Questions for Young Families:
  • Share with them what grace is. Use an example from their lives. For example when you let them do something even if they didn’t deserve to because of their behaviour. Ask them in what times might they might need to show grace to others (i.e. when playing and sharing, when someone calls them a name, etc)?
  • Weekly Challenge:  Give grace to someone who doesn’t deserve it…free them and yourself
by Andrew Mills

Movies, Grace, Nature, and the “Tree of Life”

This week we are going to be looking at a parable about God’s grace.

Grace seems to be something that is so familiar but so misunderstood. Grace is a word that we hear and see often. It’s a girl’s name, a title of U2 song, something we say before meals, and something that’s mentioned in churches a fair bit. And more recently the academy award nominated film “Tree of Life” by Terrence Malick is all about grace.

His film is a brilliant exploration of the two ways of living: by grace, or by “nature”. By nature he means what comes naturally to us, living out of strength, and our own preconceived ideas of fairness. Nature is the opposite of grace.

So my question for you this morning: is what does a life lived by grace look like? And the opposite what does a life lived in the way of “nature” look like? How do you know when someone is living out a life of grace rather than nature?

And lastly and probably most importantly – are you living your life in the way of grace? Or are you living it in the way of nature?

Come Sunday we’ll be looking about both – but why not start the discussion a bit early…

by Andrew Mills

Learning to Care for Each Other

Last Sunday was a worthwhile, but also a heavy Sunday. In our church family there is a family going through some real health challenges. But what struck me on Sunday wasn’t the challenges, but the connections. I saw people hug them, pray with them, share tears, and share hope with them. This is what church is to be – a body that cares for one another.

Surprisingly enough that was the focus of  Sunday’s service. That while the church is sent out; it is sent out together as a community of love. If we can’t learn to love each other within the church, we won’t be able to practically show love to those outside the church. So what I saw on Sunday was people practicing love. That was beautiful, even in the midst of difficulty.

Someone shared with me afterwards that what made them choose to part of this family at Plattsville was how people were honest, real, and cared for one another. What they might not have  known is they were actually quoting Jesus. Jesus says that the way we love each other will prove to the world that we follow Jesus (John 13:35).

So today and this week – make a practice – of practicing love. Put love into action and show it. Because love is meant to be shown. Here are a few practical ways from Scripture:

  • “Stop passing judgment on one another.” (Romans 14:13)
    • Who do you need to stop judging?
  • “Carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2)
    • Who has a burden that you can help carry? What can you practically do?
  • “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” (Colossians 3:13)
    • Who do you need to forgive today?
  • “Encourage one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13)
    • Who can you encourage today? What can you say to them to build them up?
  • “Accept one another just as Christ accepted you” (Romans 15:7)
    • Who should you accept today?

Which ones are easiest for you to practice? Which ones are hardest? Which one resonates most with you today? Which one can you put into practice today?

Because as you put it into practice you might be not only helping someone, but proving God’s love for them…

by Andrew Mills

A Community of “One Another’s”

This week at church we are going to do something different. Different but deep.

Over the past few weeks we’ve talked about how the church is to make disciples. That we make disciples through blessing, which literally means to give life to someone. And we also learned that we are sent to those in our Jerusalem’s, Judea’s, and Samaria’s. This is all true. The church is to make disciples, is to bless, and is sent.

This Sunday though we want to focus in on one last aspect of “being the church”. That’s being a body that loves one another.

Each week we gather to be re-sent out into our next week. But we also gather to care for one another. And this week we are going to do that in a practical and meaningful way. We are going to gather around communion tables, share blessing, share life, and pray with one another. We are going to support one another, because this journey of faith is not meant to be lived alone. Life is better together. And the church is at its best when it is active, moving, making disciples, and blessing people together. So this week the focus is on being together, healing one another, supporting one another, and loving one another.

A church that doesn’t reach out, isn’t a church. Yet it is equally true that a church that doesn’t love one another, also isn’t a church.

We are called to gather and to go. So on this Sunday we are going to gather to care.

The question is what do you need, care and support in? How can we help you? What can we do to love and care for one another?

Important questions…so let us know…because we are all in this together…

by Andrew Mills

Where I Saw Jesus this Week…

I know as a profession pastors tend to read into things. We say things like – “that parking spot was from the Lord”. I’ve heard those stories, you’ve probably heard those stories, and I’ve actually shared some of those stories. And today’s post might be a bit like that. But I’m okay with it. And at the risk of reading too much into something, here is where I saw Jesus this week.

I saw Jesus in saying grace around our dinner table.

I have started to notice something in my little boy Hudson, who is almost two. He is normally very busy, running, jumping, and oh so much climbing. We can barely get him to sit, and he doesn’t like being cuddled. He is too independent and wants to run.

But all of this changes when we say it’s time to say grace. We, as our little family of 3, hold hands and pray. And his eyes light up, he’s quiet, he smiles through the whole thing, and often at the end claps or sometimes says goodbye. Maybe he thinks prayer is like the phone where you hang up. It is a special moment in our house.

And I know some people out there might point out that he gets excited because he knows he’s going to get to eat. And that it’s simply a conditioned response to being able to have food…Perhaps…But maybe there is more to it, and maybe, just maybe, that parking spot is from God.

I know you can see this little grace routine differently. But for me I can’t help but see Jesus in it, as Hudson lights up, claps, holds our hands, and says bye bye at the end. So I found Jesus in grace with my Son…where did you find him this week?

by Andrew Mills

My Top 10 Lessons I’ve Learned… Part 2

Here are the next three lessons I’ve learned this year.

Lesson #5: God’s Love is Unconditional

This is something I’ve known, but this year experinced in a deeper way than before. With a son, whom I love so deeply for no reason other than he’s worth loving, I’m starting to get a glimpse into what God feels for us. This in reality is really changing me this year.

Lesson #4: God sees Us as Holy

This has been an amazing learning, that once you come to know Christ God sees you as holy. You are not a sinner, but saint in God’s eyes. Go and check it out yourself. Read the Bible and discover that what defines us isn’t sin but Jesus Christ within us. So this year I’m focusing on reminding people who they are in Christ, not what they need to do. My theological hunch is that the more we focus on who we actually are, the easier it will be to actually live that out.

Lesson #3: Grace is Costly

Grace is freely given, but that grace costs. I’ve learned this year that grace is hard to give, it isn’t cheap. We love to give grace to people who deserve it, but God gives it to us, those of us who don’t deserve it. And we should do the same. To give grace to those who hurt us, who know better, who won’t accept any responsibility for their actions. We don’t do this because it’s easy, but because it’s godly. This doesn’t mean excusing the hurt that was caused, but recognizing the depth of the hurt and still choosing to show grace. This is the high road, and high roads are hard. But that’s also where you’ll find God and Jesus walking with you.

For me these were three amazing lessons to learn. The first two were great to learn, the last one no one wants to have to learn. But each made me a better person I believe.

What have you learned over the past year that’s made you a better person?

Would you share it with us?

by Andrew Mills